ACWA Power awarded two 125 MW (total Capacity 250 MW) solar projects in first round of Ethiopia’s PPP programme
Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, October 28, 2019: ACWA Power, a leading international developer and operator of power generation and water desalination projects, was awarded two 125 MWac solar photovoltaic (PV) projects by the Public Private Partnership Directorate General (PPP-DG) of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance. ACWA Power won the bid for the plants during the first round of Ethiopia’s solar programme organised under the new PPP law.
ACWA Power and Ethiopia Electric Power (EEP), the state-owned electricity producer, and the Ministry of Finance signed a Letter of Intent on the 15th of October 2019. The entities will proceed to sign a long-term power purchase agreement for the projects at USD 2.52 cents/kWh over a time span of 20 years before the end of 2019. With a combined capacity of 250 MWac, the projects will contribute in addressing the current energy shortfall as well as diversifying the energy mix in Ethiopia, where the Government is currently working to increase the electricity generation capacity of the country from 4,300 MW today to 17,300 MW by 2020. The new plants will be located in Dicheto, in the Afar region, and in Gad, in the Somali region of the country.
The two solar PV projects that were tendered in April 2019 are estimated to power 750,000 homes and offset 320,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. ACWA Power was selected as the winning bid out of 12 pre-qualified bidders. While these solar projects will be ACWA Power’s first venture in Ethiopia, the company already operates in Africa with solar assets in Morocco, South Africa and Egypt, fuelling the power needs of respective communities.